HOUSTON - Virginia Tech head football coach Frank Beamer has been named a finalist for the 2007 Paul Bear Bryant College Coach of the Year Award. The winner will be voted on by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA) and named live at an awards dinner benefiting the American Heart Association on Thursday, Jan. 17 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Houston.

Beamer, who won the Bryant Award after Tech's run to the national championship game in 1999, is joined as a finalist by Sylvester "Sly" Croom of Mississippi State, June Jones of Hawaii, Mark Mangino of Kansas, Les Miles of LSU, Gary Pinkel of Missouri and Ron Zook of Illinois.

Beamer has guided the Hokies to an 11-2 record and the ACC Championship in 2007, with the opportunity to make that a school-record 12 wins Jan. 3 in the FedEx Orange Bowl against Kansas. This is the 15th consecutive bowl game for Beamer and the Hokies. He has an overall coaching record of 209-107-4, ranking him third among active Division 1-A head coaches. His record at Tech is 167-84-2 over 21 seasons. Beamer is also a finalist for the 2007 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.

While the Coach of the Year Award has been an annual tradition since 1957, the American Heart Association adopted and re-named the award in 1986 to honor Paul Bear Bryant, who died of a heart attack in 1983.